


with distance my heart opens more

by bananaseok



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M, Minor SoonHoon, Soulmate AU, WONSHUA, minor junhao - Freeform, minor verkwan - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-26 00:34:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16208972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bananaseok/pseuds/bananaseok
Summary: Nobody could ever predict when they will meet their soulmates. When two souls are ready to meet, they will eventually meet in the right place and in the right time.At a certain age—at the age where a soul is ready to meet its other half—a tattoo grows on a person’s shoulder, and when its soulmate is near, it will slowly move to the side of the pinky finger as if it’s reaching out, and it will stop moving until the soulmates touch. Until then, they will receive a postcard of their soulmate’s whereabouts.





	with distance my heart opens more

_有_ _缘_ _千里_ _来_ _相_ _会_

_Fate brings people together no matter how far apart they may be. Separated as we are, thousands of miles apart, we come together as if by destiny._

 

 

 

Wonwoo is a bright kid as he grew up with the care of his parents. His mom is a teacher at an elementary school and she teaches Wonwoo everything from math to science; his father is a painter and he has taught him everything regarding art—from shapes to patterns to color schemes.

At age 8, Wonwoo learns that he has a tattoo on his left shoulder. The first time he saw it was when he faced the bathroom mirror after taking a shower. At first, he thought that it was something that his best friend Soonyoung had scribbled on him, he can’t just recall, so he decides to shower again and scrub it off, but to his horror, it won’t come off. Horrified, he calls his mom.

“Oh, dear..” His mom faintly gasps at the sight of the tattoo on his shoulder.

In the brink of tears, little Wonwoo asks what it is.

“Sweetheart, it’s a tattoo. I have that one, too!” His mother gladly shows a tattoo on the side of her right pinky finger. “Your father also has one, and it’s on his left.”

His mother has a Pisces constellation tattoo, while his father has a Sagittarius constellation tattoo.

“Your tattoo will move from there,” His mother lightly tapped Wonwoo’s shoulder, where the tattoo is located. “to here when you meet your soulmate.” His mother holds his left hand.

“What’s a soulmate?” A confused little Wonwoo asks.

His mother smiles fondly at him. “It’s the person destined for you. It’s the person you will meet at some point in your life, and you will feel complete when you do. Like when the stars align, like when your tattoos complete themselves.”

“B-But what’s this weird writing? What will complete this?” Wonwoo asks. He’s now a little bit relieved.

“That, I don’t know.” His mom chuckles. “You’ll find out when you grow older!”

“But that’s _forever_!”

 

 

At age 13, on his birthday, Wonwoo starts to receive a postcard of a place he had never seen before. After some deep searching and asking on his mom, he learns that it’s a postcard from Los Angeles. It sparks something deep within Wonwoo because who would send him a postcard from LA? He doesn’t have any relatives from LA, and it certainly isn’t from anyone he’s met online through games.

Wonwoo receives an answer from his question because of Soonyoung, though. His best friend of 7 years has been receiving postcards from Busan _yearly_ and he never found out about it until now.

“I can’t believe you only told me that now.” Wonwoo grunts in frustration, a tad bit disappointed at his best friend.

Soonyoung only laughs out of mischief. “My mom told me this is from my soulmate. Not that he knows me or anything. It’s fate who’s sending me the postcards and it’s a hint where my soulmate is. This means my soulmate is in Busan and yours is in LA.”

Wonwoo starts to get frustrated because he doesn’t know how to speak in English. Sure, he knows a thing or two but how the hell would he communicate with his English speaking soulmate with that _thing or two?_

 

And from that realization, Wonwoo starts to teach himself English whenever he finds the time.

 

 

For 5 years, on his birthday, Wonwoo would receive a postcard from LA. The thing that keeps Wonwoo amused is that the design varies; no design was repeated for those 5 years of receiving postcards.

 

 

On Wonwoo’s 18th birthday, he receives another postcard, but this time, the layout isn’t a place he isn’t familiar with, but a place he’s surely familiar with.

On the postcard is Namdaemun, one of the famous tourist attractions in South Korea, and it’s located in Seoul, currently where he’s currently living. Could that mean his soulmate is in Seoul right now?—No, that means his soulmate is in Seoul right now. His soulmate is probably just 60 kilometers away from him at max, but if that's the case, he doesn't see or feel his tattoo moving.

 

How close do they have to be?

 

At that age is also how Wonwoo witnessed Soonyoung's tattoo move. They're at their first day of uni and are finding their classrooms when Soonyoung bumps into a short man rather comically than dramatically. It surely makes the two of them laugh while Wonwoo just stands there, witnessing the tattoos slowly crawl from their sleeves up to the side of their pinky fingers.

Wonwoo clears his throat.

"Uh, guys. I don't want to ruin the fun but.." He gulps, pointing at the tattoos that are now on Soonyoung's and his soulmate's pinky fingers—who he learns that is Jihoon. "I think you have a situation going on."

Soonyoung and Jihoon look at each other with wide eyes, and Wonwoo is pretty sure that their worlds just stopped right then and there.

Wonwoo's friend (and acquaintance), overwhelmed by the situation, decide to skip class that day in order for them to get to know each other. He ends up being alone for the rest of the day, and at the end of the day, Soonyoung invites him over to tell how it tickles when the tattoo crawls into his arms, and how amazing it is to find your other half at such an age.

 

 

It's in finals week where Wonwoo spends a little less time with Soonyoung (which is understandable because their majors are different). Wonwoo is at the library where he spends most of his time to study or sometimes to sleep.

Today is one of the days where he feels like sitting on quiet carpeted floors somewhere in the quietest place in the library. He's sat there, back against the wall with a book in his hands. It's something about English grammar. He's never stopped trying to learn the English language for his soulmate just in case he meets them, and now that his soulmate is just around Seoul, maybe he could actually use it.

Turning the page of his book, he feels a foreign sensation in his body, and it’s not a feeling he has felt before. It’s like someone is slowly making fingers crawl onto his skin—specifically on his shoulders—and the feeling makes him shiver from his seat.

Suddenly, he reckons that he has a tattoo there.

His breath hitches at the realization. He checks his left shoulder and realizes that the tattoo is gone, and it’s now nearing his arm.

And then it stops right there, and then crawls back to his shoulder.

Confused and dumbfounded, he still manages to stand up. He plans on checking every aisle to see if someone’s there although it’s ridiculous to do that because the tattoo will only move once he gets touched by his soulmate and no one has touched him at that moment, but he thinks it’s worth the shot.

Returning the book on the shelf, he sees a boy from the opposite side of the shelf, frowning and looking confused. He concludes that it’s none of his business, though, and starts to make his way to find his anything-but-korean soulmate, but he gets called out by the boy at the other end.

“Um, I’m sorry but, can you help me?” The boy has a rather sweet tone in his voice, and it’s understandable because the boy looks innocent and calm when Wonwoo laid eyes on him not more than 5 minutes ago.

Wonwoo walks back to where he returned the book to converse with the boy. “What can I help you with?” He asks, the goal of finding his anything-but-korean soulmate forgotten.

“I’m.. Looking for a book with.. Uh, Korean grammar and.. English grammar..” The boy says slowly, as if he’s trying to find the right words to say. Wonwoo chuckles at that. He finds the boy endearing especially now that he’s just spoken.

Wonwoo withdraws the book he’s reading lately—a grammar book of English and Korean—and then hands it to the boy opposite to him through the little spaces of the shelf.

The boy smiles, and according to Wonwoo, the smile resembles a cat’s smile. Wonwoo smiles back at him.

“Thank you!” The confusion in the boy’s face is now gone and has been replaced by a smile.

“Anytime.” Wonwoo counters back a smile.

“I’m Jisoo, by the way.” The boy—now Jisoo—tells him.

Just when he thinks he couldn’t smile more, he does. His lips form a lopsided grin as he returns his name. “Wonwoo.”

But then, of course, Wonwoo has to trail off because he remembers he’s going to look for his soulmate that should be wandering around the campus right now, but the chances are now down to 1:impossible because his soulmate has probably gone too far, and the university’s too big for him to find his other half. So, he resorts to just heading home with Jisoo’s smile engraved in his memory.

 

  * _Soulmates don’t have to be romantic. It could also be platonic._
  * _One’s true love and soulmate are particularly different. 45% of soulmates end up being each other’s true love._



That’s what Wonwoo read at an article he saw in the internet. He’s been researching it ever since that day he first met Jisoo. Wonwoo had always thought that soulmate is equivalent to true love, but he got confused when he developed an instant crush for the boy he met the library. So, he’s relieved that he should just be involved with his soulmate platonically.

But it’s complicated for him because he hasn’t met his soulmate yet.

But he’s glad. At least he’s not cheating.

 

 

The bad news for Wonwoo is that he never got to see Jisoo in the library again, his crush is gone, but the smile is etched in his mind like a very catchy song that’s stuck in his head. It haunts him like how the moon would follow him whenever he walks out at night.

A year later, on his second year of college, he decides to work as a student assistant in their university library along with the loud and obnoxious Jun whom he met at his second year, and is added to his little circle of friends with Soonyoung and Jihoon. Jun is Chinese, extroverted, and has a soulmate named Minghao who is a freshman. He could say that he and Jun are complete opposites personality wise, but they get along because Jun knows all of Wonwoo’s buttons.

The second Wonwoo found out about Jun already having his soulmate, he’s quick to ask how they met.

“It was at the amusement park where I work at. I was securing the safety thingies on the passenger and Minghao and I touched, and there was like this electricity. I thought it was just static but I saw how the tattoo from my left shoulder crawled towards my pinky finger. It was amazing to witness. No wonder I was feeling tingly the whole day.”

“When your soulmate is near, you feel tingly?” Wonwoo asks in wonder, like a child trying to learn that the sun is just a giant ball of fire.

Jun nods. “That’s what everyone feels. Haven’t you felt it?”

And Wonwoo recalls to that one time he was sitting at the library, when he was feeling something crawling in his skin, how he saw his tattoo moving from his shoulder to the middle of his bicep, and how it went back. Surely, that’s _that_ feeling, right?

“And yet you didn’t see your soulmate?”

Wonwoo shakes his head and tells Jun about how he only saw that Jisoo guy who he had a crush-at-first-sight on.

“He could be your soulmate!” Jun whisper shouts, hitting Wonwoo at the back of his neck.

Wonwoo hisses at the contact. “I wish he was, though.” Wonwoo could only sigh as he remembers the way Jisoo’s voice sounds. “But my soulmate is from LA. It’s anything but Korean. I’ve been receiving postcards from LA. But recently, I’ve received a Seoul post card.”

“That means your soulmate flew all the way from LA to here?”

Wonwoo nods fervently.

Their conversation is put to a halt when the doors of the library open, and a boy who seems unfamiliar walks in. His feature screams a lot like he’s a foreigner but when he walked over to the counter, where Junhui and Wonwoo are talking, he was surprisingly great at Korean.

“Hello, uh, do you mind if I borrow a book from here?” The American looking Korean asks with a hesitant tone.

“Yeah just—“ Wonwoo cuts himself mid-sentence as he begin to feel that familiar sensation he felt when he saw Jisoo—that tingling and crawling sensation on his shoulder. “—just b-bring your book here and we’ll ch-check it out—What’s your name?”

Jun and the American looking Korean give Wonwoo a look of ridicule, but the new comer complies.

“Vernon.”

_If that isn’t American enough._

“Okay.. I’m Wonwoo..” Wonwoo stutters. He feels stupid at the least, but his shoulder is actually tingling. To test it and see that he’s a hundred percent right, Wonwoo reaches out his hand. They said that in order for tattoos to connect, soulmates must touch, and shake hands is touching.

“O..kay..” _Vernon_ nods, and awkwardly shakes hands with Wonwoo.

To Wonwoo’s shock and dismay, his tattoo doesn’t crawl towards his pinky finger, nor does he feel like he connected with Vernon _at all._ It’s like he’s just meeting another person but _awkwardly._

Wonwoo squints his eyes, confused at what’s happening, and he realizes when he sees Vernon’s hand that he already has a tattoo on his pinky. Wonwoo lets got of Vernon instantly, bowing a little and apologizing.

“I.. I thought you were my—“

“—soulmate.” Vernon finishes. “Sorry.. I.. Found mine just recently.”

Wonwoo looks at Vernon and is surprised to see that he is wearing a smile that seems to be sympathy.

“Yours might just be around the corner that’s why you thought it was me.” Vernon smiles sheepishly then starts to make his ways towards the shelves, but then, he stops midway. “Uh, if you guys see a boy wearing a light blue-ish coat, dark leather bag, and is looking for me, can you tell him I’m not here?”

Wonwoo and Jun exchange looks of confusion, but they turn to Vernon and nod, and that’s a cue to send him off. When Vernon is finally out of the view, Wonwoo almost fell to floor dramatically, if it weren’t for him holding onto the counter. Jun gives him a laugh that’s so hard it comes off soundless, and Wonwoo blushes out of pure embarrassment.

“That was _so_ embarrassing!” Jun manages to say in between hysterical laughs. He has completely forgetting they’re in a library.

“I know, please don’t remind me.” Wonwoo runs his fingers through his hair, still feeling the tingling sensation on his shoulder. He thinks, _why can’t just my soulmate show up instead of making me embarrass myself out of everyone?_ He feels frustrated, kind of, because the signs are all there, the tingling sensation and the moving tattoo, but why won’t his very own soulmate show up?

His internal monologue gets cut off when the door opens, revealing a boy with brown hair, blue coat and a dark leather bag; exactly like how that Vernon guy described but—

“Wonwoo?”

Jisoo. It’s Jisoo, the one he had a crush-at-first-sight on at the far corner of this library, and he’s standing in front of him still as beautiful as ever. Wonwoo notices the ever present cat smile etched on Jisoo’s face, and it makes him smile but at the same time nervous.

_He remembers my name._

”Jisoo.. It’s.. Nice to see you again.”

“Yeah!” Jisoo chuckles, making Wonwoo’s heart flutter a little more than it should beat for a faded crush. “By chance, did you see a guy who looks American come inside?”

“Yea—“ Wonwoo gets his shin kicked by Jun, and he struggles to keep collected in front of Jisoo. But still, he still manages to say “No, no. Not at all.”

Jisoo gives them a look that says he’s skeptical; one brow raised with head tilted a little bit to the right. “Alright..” Jisoo backs out a little, but his eyes were still on Wonwoo. “I’ll go find a book, then.” And the Jisoo turns around, and at that moment, Jun nudges Wonwoo’s elbow _hard._

“Go make a move, you idiot!” Junhui whisper shouts, shoving Wonwoo out of the counter to go to Jisoo.

“No!” Wonwoo counters back another whisper shout, but then hisses when he feels the tingling sensation again. He stops looking at Junhui to check his shoulder, and is surprised to see the tattoo moving again.

Junhui peeks at Wonwoo’s shoulder, too, like it’s something they always do. “Holy shit! Go find Jisoo!”

“It doesn’t make sense..” Wonwoo mutters.

“Fucking hell, if he’s not your soulmate then okay, at least you got to talk with a beautiful man??” Junhui flails his arms in the air, not caring if people are starting to look at them. “Go.” He gives Wonwoo one last shove that sends Wonwoo to walking on the aisle of the library, trying to find Jisoo.

He treads with light footsteps as it is a library, but it is also because he just wants to slow down his pace so that he would run out of time to meet Jisoo. He can’t go back since Junhui would just pester him again, or maybe even literally drag him just to go find Jisoo again.

It’s stupid. The whole thing is stupid. He’s supposed to be finding his soulmate, not finding his crush. It’s also stupid how his shoulder keeps on tingling at very random times but he never gets to find his soulmate. What does fate want him to do? Just feel all tingly until he dies hopeless because he couldn’t find his soulmate? Yeah, probably.

Wonwoo finds Jisoo at the far end of the library, the one where they first met each other. Jisoo is at the same spot, exactly at the spot he was once at. Wonwoo takes the courage to go to Jisoo and starts to talk.

“What book are you looking for?”

Jisoo seems startled as he flinches at the sound of Wonwoo’s voice. Wonwoo concludes that Jisoo was staring at a blank space before he talked.

“I.. N-Nothing..” Jisoo stammers as he runs his hand on one of his shoulders.

“Joshua!” Somebody whisper shouts, and pretty sure Wonwoo recognizes the name.

Wonwoo looks back, and he’s right, it’s Vernon indeed. Confused, he asks Vernon “I thought you weren’t supposed to be found?”

Vernon shrugs and sheepishly smiles. “I was really trying to hide from Joshua but I found something that would blow his mind!”

“Joshu—“

“What is it?”

Wonwoo gets cut off by Jisoo—or is it Joshua?

Vernon steps in closer to Jisoo then starts to talk. Wonwoo doesn’t have any choice but to listen.

“Tattoos on your body usually tingles when your soulmate is in a close proximity, at least 60 meters in radius.” Vernon reads in a hush from the book he has on his hands.

Curious, Wonwoo says put instead of leaving.

Vernon continues. “When you’re at least 10 meters apart in radius, it will begin to move as you feel the tingling intensify.”

And with that, as if on cue, Wonwoo begins to feel the tingling again. He’s pretty sure it’s there 10 minutes ago but he’s forgot about it as he was distracted by Jisoo’s presence. He pulls up the sleeve of his sweater and sees his tattoo slowly creeping towards his pinky. He gasps in awe, drawing Vernon and Jisoo’s attentions.

“Holy shit..” He hears Vernon whisper in awe.

Wonwoo looks at Jisoo whose eyes were wide and mouth agape as he stares at Wonwoo’s tattoo.

“Uh.. J-Josh..” Vernon mutters, pointing at Jisoo’s hand.

Wonwoo almost chokes on air at the sight of Jisoo’s tattoo crawling towards his pinky. Unknowingly, he takes a couple of steps even closer to Jisoo, reaches out his hand towards Jisoo’s, and that’s when it happens: their tattoos connect.

“W..We’re—I—“ Jisoo tries to say something but he just couldn’t find the words. “What does this mean..”

“Dude.. I would help but I don’t know shit about Chinese characters.” Vernon stares at the two who have their hands interlocked.

“I—It’s actually a Chinese proverb.” Wonwoo says. “But I actually couldn’t rememb—“

“Fate brings people together no matter how far apart they may be. Separated as we are, thousands of miles apart, we come together as if by destiny.”

Wonwoo jerks his head to the right where he heard the voice and he sees Junhui standing there with a huge grin on his face.

“Won, I told you!” Junhui says a little too loudly as if he forgot that they were in the library.

“I don’t understand..” Wonwoo says, pulling his hand away from Jisoo. “I th—thought my soulmate’s from LA..”

“I.. I grew up in LA.” Jisoo says, his voice still small from speechlessness. “I came here to study.. And to find.. You..”

Wonwoo feels relief flow all over his body. The panic and confusion is now all gone along with Vernon and Junhui who just left. Wonwoo finally smiles, and Jisoo learns to smile, too. He finally understands that Joshua is Jisoo’s American name, and that he spent the entire school year learning about soulmates.

“I’m so glad you’re my soulmate.” Jisoo says as he brings their hands to entwine again.

For the first time in his life, Wonwoo feels his heart flutter and his stomach do summersaults—a really good feeling.

“I actually liked you from the start.” Jisoo smiles brightly at him just like that smile when they first met.

 


End file.
